From left to right: Khamzat, the commander of the Riyad-us-Saliheen Martyr Brigade; Doku Umarov, the leader of the Caucasus Emirate; and Saifullah, the suicide bomber of the deadly Jan. 24, 2011 suicide attack at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow that killed 35 people.
The Islamic Caucasus Emirate, an al Qaeda-linked group that operates in southern Russia, confirmed today that its emir, Doku Umarov, has died. Although Umarov was rumored to have been killed by Russian security forces late last year, the reports have not been confirmed until now.
"The Command of the Caucasus Emirate officially announced the martyrdom of the Emir Doku Abu Usman [Umarov]," according to statement that was
released today on Kavkaz Center, a media outlet for the Islamic Caucasus Emirate.
The Islamic Caucasus Emirate did not say how or when Umarov was killed, and the martyrdom statement provided only a brief biography. Umarov had been
reported killed several times over the years, only to re-emerge.
Umarov was
first reported killed in a statement on Dec. 18, 2013 by Ramzan Kadyrov, the President of the Chechen Republic. But one day later, a video showing the Islamic Caucasus Emirate leader was uploaded to YouTube.
In mid-January 2014, Kadyrov
again claimed that Umarov is dead, and said intercepted communications between jihadist leaders in Kabardino-Balkaria and Dagestan mentioned the election of a new "emir."
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